The Hunt
by SableDreamer
Summary: One dark night, a young human woman is chased through the forest by hungry youkai. When all hope seems lost, a beacon of light becons her. What will greet her when she reaches it? Salvation? Or a fate worse than death at the hands of those who chased her?
1. Chapter 1

Hello all! I'd like to welcome you to my first ever posted fanfic! I hope that you enjoy this ficlet that I just couldn't get out of my head.

Please note that I do not own Inuyasha or anything related to Inuyasha.

Without any further ado, I give you: The Hunt.

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Her hair tangled in the branches as she ran through the forest. Twigs scraped her cheeks with red gouges and roots tripped her feet. Her breathing was loud in her ears. It was all she could hear. The usual sounds of the forest were conspicuously absent. Nature knows when danger is about, after all, and all wise creatures take shelter when the youkai hunt.

Past the harsh sound of her breath heaving in and out of her lungs, there was a slithering, a skittering, a crackling of the leaves behind her. She didn't dare turn. If she did, she just _knew_ that she would fall. And once she fell, that would be the end of her typically cheerful human self. And so, she ran. She ran though her sides ached with the sharp pain of one who has gone past their limit. She ran though her breath burned as it entered her lungs. She ran though her legs ached and wobbled each time her feet hit the carpet of moss and leaves. She ran though her vision swam with unshed tears. She ran though she knew it was only a matter of time before she could no longer run. She ran though she knew that no one would come to save her this time. She ran even as her heart squeezed painfully in her chest at the thought of all the things she'd left unfinished, of all that she hadn't had the courage to say, of all the things that she had meant to accomplish that would never be completed. Still, she ran.

She kept running, kept going even as all hope died in her mind, even as she began to give up, her body wouldn't let her stop. It wouldn't let her rest and wait for the death that she knew lurked only a few bounds behind her. Even as she despaired, she ran. And then, a miracle happened. Light shown up ahead. Light in the darkness of the treacherous, dangerous forest. Like moonlight on a still lake. Like the glow of the stars in the darkest of nights. The light called to her, and the hope she thought dead in her breast answered. And so, she ran. She ran to the break in the trees. She ran toward the light, and just as she was about to pass the last of the gnarled, spiteful trees, a root twisted her ankle. She fell.

Her brown eyes tightly shut to block that deceitful, mocking light, she waited for her death to come. And waited. Cautiously, her eyes opened. Cautiously, she turned her head. Cautiously, she looked behind her. Light was her reward. The glowing light of moonlight falling on silver hair. The light of the moon shining on spilled blood. She swallowed nervously, for she knew that none of her friends could come for her. At the sound of her own harsh breathing, she cringed. For all of nature knows to hide when the youkai hunt. And as removed as humans might pretend they are from nature, when golden eyes pierced her, her breathing stilled, hoping against hope that the powerful youkai's attention would turn elsewhere. And when she recognized the rumbling snarl for what it was, and when those golden eyes like the sun, though with none of its warmth, turned to the color of the youkai hunt's spilled blood and the deep sapphire of a pure and deep lake, she pulled herself to her feet.

And Kagome ran.

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I hope you enjoyed it! Please Read and Review! I'll accept any sort of feedback, be it a glowing recommendation or flames.

~ SableDreamer


	2. Chapter 2

I would like to dedicate this chapter to the amazing and wonderful YaslanaGirl, without whom this chapter would still be sitting on my computer waiting for me to finish it. Thank you for you're great editing help. This chapter is for you! Also, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed my first chapter. I can't tell you how much it meant to me that you would all take the time to write a review. Every word helps to keep me motivated and excited to keep writing. Thank you all! I hope everyone enjoys Chapter 2 of the Hunt!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Unless you count the manga sitting on my bookshelf.

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The stench of blood and fear permeated the air. It entered his lungs with every intake and made his instincts howl in fury. How he hated those instincts now. They snarled at him to chase her. To find her, when his mind told him that it would be unwise to become involved with the human any more than necessary. Did his instincts listen? Why should they, when the sight of her terrified form sprawled helpless on the fallen leaves of autumn sparked unbidden memories of another hauntingly similar hunt in his recent past? A hunt whose victim hadn't survived. The stink of her fear was unmistakable and when the lesser youkai had darted toward the fallen woman, the lifeless brown eyes of a child flashed before him, a ghost of a memory.

That memory had been enough. Enough to end this hunt before it could claim the blood of a young human female with all of life ahead of her. Almost before he had made the decision to come between the woman and certain death, he had already moved. His claws ripped easily through flesh, and his hands were swiftly drenched in blood. Despite his beast's howling desire to run free and revel in the blood of slain enemies, he held the reigns of his instincts tightly, resisting the urge to make safe all that he laid claim to. His control held even as he turned toward her where she still lay, cowering, on the cold, hard ground, that ridiculous outfit that he always saw her in obviously of little comfort against the seeping chill. He held his control, those reigns, with an iron strength that would not falter. And it didn't falter until she met his golden gaze and her terror spiked.

His tightly held control snapped, like a bone beneath his sword. Her fear spurred his rage, for why should she fear when he had destroyed all threats? Unless he hadn't. As this consideration occurred to him, a low snarl issued from his chest, a warning for all near not to trespass, not to impose where he had laid claim. He kept his eyes on hers, and attempted to convey the thought that she could not come to harm while he protected her. Feeling the effects of his fury, and that of the feral blood that rose to the fore, he narrowed his glare in a clear challenge to any who would dare try his power, or hurt that which he guarded. He needed no crystal clear lake or expensive mirror to know that his eyes had changed into the striking hues of his enemies' blood and the cool blue of a winter's night.

Foolishly ignoring his attempted reassurance, the woman staggered swiftly to her feet, clenching her jaw against the obvious pain, and bolted in the wrong direction. That is to say, away from him. If the damn woman wouldn't stay where she was passably safe, why should he bother to safeguard her at all? Which, he tried valiantly to persuade himself, was the driving reason behind his irritation at her frantic departure. He hesitated to follow, nearly convincing himself that she didn't want, or deserve, to be under his protection. Still that pale ghostly memory of a child that he had been too late to save haunted him, and compelled him into nearly-unwilling motion. His footfalls silent, the youkai moved swiftly to the edge of the clearing where he had spent the evening in peaceful meditation, following the young human woman.

And Sesshoumaru gave chase.

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As always, please read and review. Let me know what you liked and what you thought I could do better. Everything helps!

Until next time!

~SableDreamer


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